Chapel

At the beginning of the academic year we had three ordinands with us on a two-week residential placement. Jonathan Kester and Christopher Pearson came from the College of the Resurrection at Mirfield, and Christopher Rankine from Lincoln Theological College. They came to experience what being a School chaplain is all about and we much enjoyed having them with us. In addition to challenging me a great deal about my job and how I do it, they immersed themselves in the life of the School. They did, I hope, get a good taste of what it means to be a priest in this sort of place — the joys, the opportunities, the challenges, the difficulties and the contradictions. It was good for the pupils to be able to meet and talk with three young men, not much older than our senior pupils, who were preparing for a lifetime of service in the ordained ministry. The ordinands found their placement stimulating and enjoyable. I hope that such placements might become a regular feature of our annual routine. My own sense of vocation to School chaplaincy was greatly strengthened by a similar placement which I did at Clifton College when I was at theological college.

We have been fortunate with our visitors this year. Fr. Barry Orford, from the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield, came again for a week's residential visit. We also had a three-day visit from Sister Catherine, from the Order of the Holy Paraclete at Whitby. These two visits complemented each other very well, and gave the pupils the opportunity to see a different expression of Christian faith and commitment.

The Bishop of Ripon, David Young, preached at Choral Evensong. Four local priests (David Wilbourne, the Archbishop's Domestic Chaplain, Tony Hodge, Robin Fletcher and Douglas Emmott) each came to lead a week's Chapel. Major General D. M. Naylor gave the address at the Remembrance Service. The School's Amnesty International group again did a week's Chapel. The seasonal Services (the Advent Carol Service and Words and Music for Lent) were well supported, as was the Christmas Carol Service in the Minster at the end of the Christmas Term. We again contributed to the Minster's Epiphany Procession in January.

Our Confirmation Service in May, at which forty pupils from St. Olave's and St. Peter's were confirmed, was conducted by Lord Coggan, the former Archbishop of York and of Canterbury. At 83 he was as impressive and vigorous as ever. He spoke to the whole School in Chapel on the morning of the Confirmation in a powerful and inspiring way. On a personal note, I was particularly pleased to have Lord Coggan at St. Peter's, because the sermon which he had preached when he was enthroned in Canterbury Cathedral in January 1975 was significant in nurturing my own sense of vocation to the priesthood.

The Sunday evening Eucharists have continued and have been appreciated by the small number of pupils and staff who attend. We have also continued with the wholeSchool Eucharist on one occasion each term. I have been very pleased with how the School has responded to these Eucharists. The Services have been conducted with some ceremony, not least to try and speak to people in a less cerebral way. These occasions enable the School to experience the central act of Christian worship and are, I feel, an important and valuable element in the pupils' contact with the Christian faith while they are at St. Peter's. I hope that the Services help in giving pupils what have been called the "tools of worship" — not least among which is language. I believe that one of the strongest justifications for compulsory attendance at Chapel is its role in teaching a language — a language which is necessary if the reality of God to which the language points is ever to be perceived and known. Although this teaching can, to a certain extent, be done in R.S. lessons in the classroom, it can be done most effectively in the context where religious believers use religious language — and that is in religious Services. It may be that for most pupils, most of the time, the language has no cash value. But I hope and believe that at significant moments in their lives (when they fall in love and wish to get married; at the birth of one of their children; when someone they love falls ill and dies) the language will be helpful to them.

We again had a Leavers' Eucharist on the last day of formal teaching for the U. VI. I was much encouraged by the fact that almost the entire year group attended.

The Chapel has been used for several Occasional Offices this year. Sally Shuttleworth, the daughter of Guy and Tan, was married in the Chapel in December. The children of several members of staff have been baptised: William Stephen (the son of Paddy and Liz), Catriona Bellis (the daughter of Jim and Susan) and Emma Newton (the daughter of Wendy and Michael). Sadly, the Chapel has also been used for a funeral — that of Peggy Brown, the wife of John Brown who was until recently Director of Art here. Peggy died in March after a long illness.

Comic Relief Day in March was a memorable occasion in Chapel. We had a non-uniform day which should more accurately be described as a fancy-dress day. Most pupils and staff made a great effort to dress in colourful and elaborate costumes. Ian Lowe and I did a sketch about a baptism.

Our collections this year were given to charities chosen by the pupil Chapel Committee: AVERT (Aids Education and Research Trust); the Broken Wall Community of Reconciliation in Cape Town, South Africa; and a famine relief project at the Church of the Nazarene in Mpopoma, Zimbabwe.

The last Chapel Service of the year was the Leavers' Service on the Friday of Commemoration weekend. Richard Drysdale gave the address. The Commemoration Service was in the Minster on the Saturday morning, and we welcomed Canon Colin Semper from Westminster Abbey as our preacher.

S. C. Harvey